Truth Be Told
by EA Thomas
Summary: Jack is at his wits end with the new Oversight committiee, Carter and Teal'c are Lost In Space and Daniel gets kicked out of his office by a beautiful blonde...it's just another day at the SGC!


The smooth liquid poured into the cup and Daniel could feel the heat seep into his palm within seconds of stirring sugar into the dark liquid. Lifting the cup to his lips, he inhaled the aroma of the one thing in this world that could get his body moving this early in the morning.

_Mmm, coffee_.

He could work now.

It was only 5 am and the halls of the SGC had yet to wake up for the workday, but he was used to it. He couldn't count how many times he had come in early, or not left at all just to be able to work a little longer. Today was going to be boring though, that's why he needed coffee before he even tried to get to his office.

With Sam and Teal'c still off with the Tok'ra doing…what were they doing again? Something about her father and the Tok'ra wanting to express their admiration for her father. For once, he hadn't been paying attention. Not that anyone could blame him. This week was going to be rough. The new oversight committee established by the president was conducting a tour of sorts. And of course, Jack had enlisted Daniel as the front man. He had spent the weekend getting his suit dry cleaned, hunting down a new pair of shoes and he even got a hair cut.

This calamity was the reason he was here early today. Wanting only a few minutes to himself before the committee descended over the SGC and then it would be strictly business until they left.

Daniel's cup was half empty by the time he made the last turn into the hall where his office was in the middle. But as he reached the doorway, he stopped dead in his tracks. The door to his office was open and a large cardboard box seemed to be moving across the floor on its own. _There's something you don't see everyday…_

Now on his guard, Daniel slowly walked to the doorway, and looked from side to side before calling out. "Uh—hello?"

"Yeah?" A female voice answered from behind the box.

Now staring at the box, Daniel's first thought was…_I've seen stranger things_. "Hello?" He asked again, now walking around the corner of the box.

He stopped at one end of the box as a whirl of blonde hair poked out from behind it. "Look, I don't have time for Marco-Polo right now. What do you want?" Standing away from the box, a young blonde haired woman in jeans and t-shirt glared up at Daniel as though he was nothing more than an irritating child. "_Yes_?"

Setting his coffee cup on the desk, Daniel smiled down at the woman who was clearly out of breath. "I'm Doctor Jackson, this is my office—who are you?"

Giving him an obvious up and down look, the young woman propped her hands on her hips as she spoke. "Oh, _you're_ Jackson? Hi." With the roll of her eyes, she dismissed him and walked back to the box.

Daniel was dumbfounded and stood in complete awe of the woman he'd just come into contact with. "I think there's been a mistake."

The young woman turned at his accusation and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I've got work to do. Go talk to Jack."

"Jack?"

"Yes, Jack O'Neill. Tall guy, Air Force, has a star on his uniform, he's kinda in charge around here."

"I know who he is—"

"Good. Then you won't get lost on your way to his office."

Before Daniel could say another word, the young woman backed him up to the doorway and closed the door on him.

_What the hell?_

After staring at the closed door for about two minutes, Daniel stormed down the hall to Jack's office. Luckily, there were no bystanders to trample.

T-minus 30 minutes.

The committee would arrive by 0630 and the first of many briefings would begin at 0700. It was times like this when Jack was reminded of how lucky he was not to be in Daniel's shoes. He had it easy, he would just have to sit at the head of the table and pretend to listen—Daniel actually had to talk to the stuffy headed politicians and government hound dogs that were no doubt foaming at the mouth at the thought of tearing the SGC apart.

Jack looked at his watch, 0545.

He should be dressed by now. He was just procrastinating—as usual. Walter hadn't been around today. He was busy with his own list of things to do before the committee arrived and now, left to his own devices, Jack O'Neill was falling behind schedule. The door to Jack's office flew open and a very red faced Daniel Jackson stormed in.

"Good morning, Daniel," Jack said, a noticeable grin on his face. Daniel always looked so funny when he was mad.

Stopping abruptly before Jack's desk, Daniel looked more like a flustered old woman than the mild mannered Archeologist Jack had known for so long. "Do you know anything about the crazy blonde that just kicked me out of my office?"

Jack ignored the outburst and looked down to the papers on his desk. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking."

Daniel tightened his fists and fought the urge to stomp his feet. "JACK!"

"Alright…alright…" Jack said, holding his hand out to Daniel until he calmed down. "Crazy blonde lady in your office?"

Daniel sighed. "Yes!"

"Oh—" Jack thought a moment and tried to feign ignorance. "I didn't mention her?"

Daniel just glared at him as he sat in the chair across from Jack. "No…."

Now perking up, as though this were completely expected, Jack gave the simplest explanation. "She's you're new assistant."

"My _Assistant_?"

Jack swallowed hard. "Re…place…ment-"

Daniel was out of his seat before Jack could finish his sentence. "REPLACEMENT!"

"Well…you're the one who wanted to go to Atlantis."

"You're letting me go?"

"No, but if the day should come that you really go—I'm going to need someone here that can do your job."

Daniel was dumbfounded and had to shake his head before he could think straight. "I have to _train_ her?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Jack stood and ushered Daniel to the door. "No. She came from Area 51, she's been researching all the stuff we've been sending there."

Turning back into the office, Daniel refused to leave until he got all his questions answered. "Oh, well, that makes all the difference."

Jack stayed by the door, and watched as Daniel began to pace the length of his office. "You'll like her—trust me, she's a lot like you were when you first came here."

"Jack-"

"No buts Daniel."

"But—" The look on Daniels face was priceless, it almost reminded Jack of his son when he wanted to go outside and play in the rain.

Shaking off the memory, Jack pulled Daniel's shoulder until they were both out in the hallway. "I don't have time for this—I've got ten minutes to get changed. Now stop being…a scaredy cat and go talk to her." Leaving Daniel standing in the hall, Jack headed off to the changing room as he called back at Daniel. "And make sure she's ready for the briefing at 0700."

Jack disappeared down the hall and Daniel sighed. _It's always something…_

Chapter 2 

Daniel walked slowly back to _his_ office, taking every justifiable detour through the halls; a refill on his coffee, check the fax machine in Sam's office, check Sam's answering machine, stock up on munchies at the vending machine and he even made a pit stop in the men's room before turning down the last hall to his office—a total 25 minutes spent procrastinating. _Jack would be proud_. Now he had to change but his suit was hanging up in his office—he couldn't put it off anymore, the committee would be arriving soon.

The door was still closed when Daniel walked up to his office door. Why he was so intimidated by this…this…_kid_ was beyond him. So, remembering the countless times he had stood face to face with danger and lived to tell about it—Daniel took a deep breath and turned the doorknob.

The room was quiet. The lights were on, but there was no movement in the room. Three large boxes had been pushed into the far corner of the small office and a dark blue suitcase sat beside them.

"Oh you're back." the female voice said.

Daniel had to look around to see that she was standing in the shadows by the bookcase, filling the empty slots with her own volumes.

"All right, first things first, what is your name?" Daniel asked. His hands firmly planted on his hips.

As though talking to herself, she spoke without dividing her attention from the books. "Fenwick, Julie Fenwick."

Daniel made a mental note of her name and took a few steps toward her. "Can I assume that there's a PHD after that?"

"Of course, why, don't _you_ have one?" She still wouldn't look at him as she spoke. She just continued to place books on the shelf.

Instantly defensive, Daniel dug his hands into his pockets. "Yes, actually, I have five."

She looked at him now. "Oh. How special." She flashed a quick, insincere smile at him and turned her attention back to the books.

Julie's tone alone made Daniel's blood boil. But again, he reminded himself that he had faced worse adversaries and this _little girl_ was not going to get under his skin. "What are you doing?" he asked, walking over to her side and leaning in to see the new addition to his library.

"I'm filling in the volumes that you don't have. 12, 19, 24 and 39 were missing, I don't know about you but I can't stand an incomplete collection of _anything_." Her tone was more condescending than anything. And she moved around him as though he were the one out of place as she unloaded the stack of books in her arms.

Daniel stood and watched her a moment, how could he hate someone that was completing his collection of Latin Symbolism of the 14th Century? With a final deep breath, Daniel turned and took the books from her arms. "This can wait," he said, laying them on the corner of his desk. He looked down at her and tried to smile. In turn, she crossed her arms and refused to offer any sign of friendship in return.

Another sigh and Daniel relaxed his shoulders. His fingers fumbled to his back pocket and he pulled a copy of the committee's itinerary out of his pocket. He held it between them for a moment and held it out to her. "The first briefing is at 0700. You have about ten minutes to change, just uh…meet me at the elevator you came down in." With that said, Daniel walked over to the coat rack and picked up his suit before walking out of the office.

Julie stood silent for a moment, then smiled as she unfolded the paper…

Chapter 3 

The reflection in the mirror grimaced back at Jack O'Neill and for a split second he had to admit—he was getting old. But, as usual, the moment passed and he was back to smiling at himself and straightening his tie. Once he was satisfied with his tie, he pulled on his uniform coat. The three buttons fastened with ease and he stepped back to make sure that his medals were straight.

Finally, with his hand acting as his comb, Jack flattened his hair just as Walter came around the corner of his locker.

"Sir?" Walter asked softly, making sure he wouldn't startle him.

Jack sighed. "Yes Walter?"

"The committee, they're topside Sir." Also decked out in his dress uniform, Walter looked more comfortable in the tuxedo type uniform as he glanced down at his watch.

"Well," Jack said, closing his locker and smoothing down the front of his uniform. "Let's not keep them waiting."

Daniel walked down the hall quicker than usual—he was running late. And he had under a minute to meet Jack at the elevator before he could officially count on a disapproving glare upon his arrival. His only credit was that he remembered to pick up his suit at the cleaners this morning and hadn't had to make a mad dash to the cleaners at the last minute. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and got ready to step into his ambassadorial mode when he turned the last corner and came up on Jack and Walter who were chatting along with—Fenwick.

She had changed into a dark blue dress that came down to her knees and wore a matching coat over it. Her hair was pulled back and she didn't look like the disheveled young woman he had seen a few moments ago--she actually looked quite…_DON'T EVEN THINK IT! _Before he could form a complete thought, Daniel's consciousness kicked in full force and he had to shake his head before approaching them.

Jack noticed him first. "_Daniel_, nice of you to join us." he said, clasping his hands together as Daniel stood behind him. Jack looked up into thin air and thought a moment before looking over his shoulder at Daniel and Julie with a particular glint in his eye. He looked back and forth between them before speaking, "You two plan this?"

Daniel looked equally confused until he looked over at Fenwick and realized what Jack was talking about.

Their suits matched perfectly as if they were made from the same fabric.

Neither of them said anything. They just took two steps away from each other as the elevator door dinged open. The first group of the committee had arrived.

Jack went into action first. "Good morning everyone. If you'll follow me I'll show you to the briefing room. You can wait there while the next group heads on down." Leading them away, Jack shot a look at Daniel and he quickly followed step.

"Come with the next group." Daniel whispered as he passed by Fenwick.

"Yes, _Sir_." She whispered back. Her tone was anything but respectful but Daniel ignored it and walked up to save Jack from any attempt at being diplomatic. In the far corner of Daniel's mind a bell rung.

_Ding. Round one._

It had only been three hours since the committee officially descended upon the SGC and Jack was nearly climbing the walls. He had sat through a continuous line of questioning and his only refuge was lunch—which he had called at 1030 sharp.

Now, he sat alone in his office and stared down at his uninspired lunch—tuna on wheat with a side order of fries, which he had begun to poke at when Walter stepped in his doorway, looking rather hesitant.

Jack propped his elbow on the desk and looked up at Walter. "What?"

"Sir, a message came in from the Tok'ra."

This got Jack's attention. It had been nearly two weeks since Teal'c and Carter had left to meet with the Tok'ra and there hadn't been any radio transmissions since. Jack had just chalked it up to the Tok'ra being secretive as they always were and hadn't allowed any radio signals out of the base—he had to understand, just because Earth was safe for the Goa'uld for the moment didn't mean the Tok'ra were in the clear.

With the last few days playing through his memory, Jack stood from his chair and was on his way down the hall before Walter could catch up. "Just now!"

Walter faltered a moment and ran to his side as Jack broke into a jog down the hall, "Yes Sir!"

In the command room, Walter pulled up the transmission on the screen. It was only a text message but Jack didn't have to hear a voice to realize the severity of the situation.

Carter and Teal'c had not met the Tok'ra at the rendezvous point.

It was this point in time where Jack O'Neill's heart jumped into his throat and he lost the ability to speak. His worst fears were coming true right in front of him and his own words came back to haunt him. "I never should have let her go--"

Chapter 4 

Sitting back on the briefing room, Jack tightened his grip on the arm of the chair as member number 12 stood and walked to the overhead projector.

"Now General, with these new personal arrangements, the SGC will be able to cut down on man power by 80 percent…"

The nondescript man in the brown suit continued to speak, but Jack had long sense stopped paying attention. His people were missing. He shouldn't be here. He should be out there looking for them, contact the Asgard or hop on a Tok'ra transport ship and retrace their route. He should be doing anything but sitting here listening to these bureaucrats tell him how to run his base.

But when it came down to it, this was out of his hands and he had to follow his orders. The president had asked him to be patient with the committee and give them some leeway.

So _leeway_ he gave them and let SG-4 head up the search party for Carter and Teal'c as he and Daniel sat through meeting after meeting…

Hard metal clanged against hard metal as Colonel Samantha Carter sat in the bowels of the transport pod trying to pry open the hatch to the hyper drive.

"Colonel Carter," Teal'c said as he tried to keep the controls steady. The controls were shaky and hard to steady, even for him. Granted with the engines exhausted and all energy sources nearly depleted there wasn't much he could do but try to keep the ship from crashing into any planets while he used their inertia to evade the two Al'kesh on their heels.

Not answering Teal'c, Carter put her full body weight into prying the door open. And fell to the floor with a resounding thud when the door gave under the pressure. She scrambled to her feet and made the necessary adjustment and yelled out, "Try it now Teal'c!"

Waiting patiently, Teal'c pushed a lighted button on the console and attempted to boost the power to the engines but as he watched the console he realized it had no effect-- if anything, they were slowing down.

"There is no change," Teal'c replied as the light continued to display the ineffectiveness of the engines.

Emerging from the back of the ship, Carter sat second chair and began to calculate the distance to the nearest planet, "Okay…well, that's just not going to work."

"Shall I divert our trajectory to the nearest planet?"

"There's a stargate on PX-496710, if we can get there…and find the gate."

"It appears it is our only choice Colonel Carter."

"Right. Okay, PX-496710 it is…"

Chapter 5 

Still sitting in the briefing room, Jack tried to let his thoughts settle down while the committee headed off to lunch. Granted he would have to join them in the commissary before he was considered fashionably late and would no doubt have to listen to idle comments made by people that he would rather kill than share the same air with.

He was doing those breathing exercises now. The ones that Janet made him learn during his rehabilitation from being tortured by Ba'al.

_Janet_.

Her name was all it took these days to knock him right in the gut where fear and self-doubt would follow. He had held onto her memory as best he could, but the only thing Jack could salvage from the seven years they worked together was their last conversation…

"So, how's Cassie been?"

She was filing paper work and Jack was once again popping in her office unexpectedly and being annoying, "Oh, she's fine, getting ready for graduation soon." It was then that she stopped, put down the file and looked over at him with a sadness in her eyes that caught Jack by the heart strings. "She wants to go to college on the east coast."

Feeling the hurt in her voice, Jack nodded stuffed his hands into his pockets. "She can't wait to get out of here, eh?"

"I should let her go, I know. But I can't help but think that—I mean, if something happened to her, if she wound up in a hospital…when they tested her blood…"

"Cassie is a smart kid, she knows what to do."

"I know, but…I just wish I could keep her a little girl for ever."

A small corner of Jack's memory sparked as the memory of his own son came to the front of his mind. It seemed like a lifetime ago when he had the same thought about Charlie. "You know, when Charlie started going to school…granted I wasn't around all the time, but…it was just the idea that…he wasn't going to be there-" Charlie's laugh resounded in Jack's memory and he fought it off as he stood from the wall. "They always grow up…whether you want them to or not."

Janet was teary eyed as she looked over to Jack, "You've never spoke of Charlie around me before." A soft smile was his only reply and Janet smiled in return.

It was so simple. Her smile and that statement. It spoke volumes. In her own way, she was saying that he was letting down his guard around her and she appreciated it. This is how true friends spoke with each other. Able to mention their horrific pasts with one simple vague comment without digging into the past too much…and causing unneeded tears.

That smile had stayed with him since her death. It was there every day he came to work and walked past the infirmary and every time he had to sit through one more briefing where some other doctor—that wasn't Janet-- would try to explain something that he couldn't understand if he tried.

And now…even a year after her death. That smile still calmed him and made him remember to relax…_and_ _just breathe_.

"General?" Standing at the doorway, Walter dared not enter without speaking first.

Jack looked up slowly and released the death grip he had on the table. "I know Walter, I'm coming."

He stepped closer as Jack stood and smoothed down his uniform. "No Sir, I have an update from the Tok'ra—about Colonel Carter and Teal'c." Jack's eyes shot open as he stopped and waited for Walter to speak. "They found the transport ship's energy signature."

"And?" Jack asked, annoyed that Walter even paused.

"It leads in a system of planets outside of the gate network and—"

"And what?"

"There were two other energy signatures near by--distinctively Goa'uld."

The information spread through Jack's mind like a wild fire. Carter. Teal'c. Goa'uld. Rescue. No time to waste.

Years of military training took over and before Walter could say anything, Jack was walking back to his office and had already taken off his dress coat when Walter walked in behind him.

"Uhm, Sir?" Walter asked, standing motionless by the door. But Jack didn't answer. "General? May I ask what you are doing?"

"We're getting a team together, and we're going to find them."

Walter looked down at the clipboard in his hand. Under the message from the Tok'ra was another message. The committee was waiting for General O'Neill to begin the tour of the base.

Walter sighed and held the clipboard behind his back, "Sir, the committee is waiting for you." His words hit Jack like a ton of bricks and slowly, Jack stopped and sat in his chair.

Walter knew he should walk out, but there was more at stake today than people lives—the future of the SGC depended on this committee and if he had to he would pull Jack O'Neill to his feet and push him down the hall.

Staring at the red phone before him Jack saw everything clearly for the first time all day—_Resign. Right now, just quit. Then you can—oh wait, if you quit then you can't go through the gate. You can't be here. You can't fight_.

"Sir?" Walter asked, daring to walk to the end of the desk.

Jack took a rugged breath and stood from his chair, "I'll be there in two minutes." Walter nodded and made his exit.

The silence of the small office seemed to crush Jack. His chest felt heavy and he couldn't stand up right. But there she was, suddenly smiling…_just breath Jack…you'll be fine_.

His hands gripped the edge of his desk as Jack tried to breath easy. All he wanted to do was take off like a bat outta hell and rescue his friends—but he had to be here. He knew that taking off would only lead to trouble and that's something he wouldn't be able to get out of—even if he was the boss.

One final deep breath and Jack pushed off from the desk. He was walking steady now and headed for the door as he grabbed his dress coat from the floor and pulled it back on.

With a quick stop at the mirror, Jack buttoned his coat and fixed his medals before heading down to meet the committee.

_You can do this Jack. Just breathe._

The transport ship had crashed. This much Teal'c knew but not much else. Where ever they were, it was dark—very dark.

He lay hunched over the control panel and a sharp object pushing into the base of his neck prevented any movement. He could move his arms and legs at least, but he still couldn't see. "Colonel Carter?" He called out but there was no answer. This was bad, if she could answer him she would have. Gathering his strength, Teal'c braced his hands on the control panel and pushed against the object at his back. It moved slightly but not enough. It took two more tries before he could slide out from the chair and onto the floor where a thousand small broken objects tore at the palms of his hands. Trying to stand to his feet, Teal'c came into contact with another large object as the back of his head made a thud against the unforgiving metal and as any true warrior would do, he ignored the pain and continued on.

The darkness around him began to fade as his eyes adjusted and he could see that the ship had collapsed in on itself in the crash. But where was colonel Carter? She was sitting in the seat next to him when they crashed, she couldn't be too far. That's when his right foot caught on yet another object and brought him crashing to the floor on his elbows and knees. He turned quickly, and in reaching out before him he felt cloth and a boot… _Colonel Carter. _His fingers felt along the unmistakable touch of government-issue clothing and reached her shoulders then her face. " Colonel Carter? Are you alright?" She didn't move and for an instant Teal'c feared the worst. But his face convulsed with a smile of relief as he felt her neck and found a steady pulse.

Getting to his feet, Teal'c raised the unconscious Colonel into his arms and walked to where the exit used to be only to find that the outer door had been ripped off and he could easily exit the ship.

A few steps from the ship and Teal'c could see that they had crashed into a thick forest. His first thought was that the Jaffa from the two ships would be looking for them, but at least the tall trees would hide the crash site until daybreak.

Crash landing on a planet should rattle him. But somehow, things such as this had become second nature and he wasted no time in traversing the forest and finding a clearing to lay down Colonel Carter and check her injuries.

He laid her gently on the cold ground and brushed her hair back. "Colonel Carter? Can you hear me?" he asked, speaking softly so that if the Jaffa had already landed they wouldn't hear.

As he spoke, he checked her for injuries and found a cut along her hairline. Nothing life threatening but it was already swollen and the dried blood made the wound feel larger than it really was. But just the same, they needed supplies. In looking down at Colonel Carter, Teal'c made his mind to go back to the crash site alone and search for the supplies…

Chapter 6 

The silent darkness of Daniel's office burst into life as Julie Fenwick blazed through the door with Daniel Jackson hot on her heels…

"That's it! You're fired!" Daniel yelled. He was trying his best to keep control of the situation but the young woman standing before him had pushed him beyond reasonable thinking and he was about to kill her.

"You can't fire me!" she screamed back. She too was having a hard time controlling her temper but that didn't mean she was going to admit to being wrong. "General O'Neill hired me, NOT YOU."

Daniel took a breath and pushed his glasses up on his nose, "A minor technicality." Pressing on, Daniel walked over to his desk and started typing out a form…

Julie Fenwick was furious. Of all the pig headed military minds she had come across in the past, this one Archeologist was by far the worst she had ever seen and she wasn't about to let him get the upper hand in this argument, "You know…for a linguist, you sure do speak a lot of English." As she spoke, Julie walked to the end of Daniel's desk and waited for retaliation…

He hadn't heard the argument, but it was enough to hear about it from the committee members when he caught up with them after lunch and all Jack had to hear was DANIEL and FIGHT. He took off down the hall after that and as he walked to Daniel's office he couldn't fathom what was going on or why he would be fighting with someone. Daniel had never been one to get into arguments or fights of any sort; it was too dangerous—for Daniel. And ever since Doctor Fenwick had been here, Daniel seemed to be on edge and now…they were fighting? This couldn't be good.

Jack turned the last corner and was just about to think the whole idea of Daniel yelling at someone funny—when he heard a muffled noise that was clearly not native to the SGC. He paused a moment and began walking again when he noticed that the noise got louder as he reached Daniel's office. He was walking faster now and as he stopped out side of the doorway the voices became crystal clear—except for the fact that he couldn't understand what they were screaming…_was it even in English?_

In Daniel's office…

"Que demonios le hace pensar que usted puede dirgirse a mi asi?" Julie screamed.

Daniel glared down at her and took a step closer, "Sono siacente," Daniel said patting her on the head. "Siete un tal bambino…"

Julie stepped forward and got in Daniel's face as Jack walked the doorway, "Va' aos diabos!"

Jumping into action, Jack crossed the room and pushed Daniel and Julie apart, "YO! What the hell is going on here?" he asked, holding his hands out to make sure they kept their distance.

"She—" Daniel started when Julie cut him off.

"Oh no you don't!" she yelled.

Grabbing hold of Daniel's suit, Jack looked to Daniel and then to Julie—they both stopped talking. "Alright, I don't know what's going on here AND I DON'T CARE! All I do know is that I was left alone with the committee members and THAT is not gonna fly! Now…here's what's going to happen. _Doctor_ Fenwick: You are going to go to the women's locker until I bang on the door and tell you to come out. And I'm going to have a little conversation with _Daniel_."

"Yes, Sir," Julie said before making a quick exit.

Jack sighed and let go of Daniel's suit. He didn't know where to begin, well he did—but Daniel was just too old to bend over his knee. "Okay," Jack said, taking in another deep breath and forcing a smile. "Let me hear it."

Daniel stuffed his hands into his dress pants pockets and sighed, "It's my fault," he said.

"Oh, you don't say?"

"I can't work with her Jack."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't know, something about her just makes me want to—punch her right in the nose."

"Look, this isn't forever but when--if you take off for Atlantis, she's going to take your place and until then I need her to be here."

"I know, it's just that—"

"I don't care!" Jack said, throwing his hands up in the air. "FIX THIS!"

"Fix it?"

"Yes! Fix it, make nice, shake hands…I don't' care what you do—just do it! And so help me God if I have to _help_ you do it…I'll…I'll just shoot you with a Zat, I know how much you love that." With a pat on Daniel's shoulder, Jack headed for the door. "Now go get Doctor Fenwick and make up!" he yelled from the hallway.

Daniel stared at the floor as he realized just how stupid he had acted a moment ago. This wasn't like him…this isn't who he was. He was compromising and easy going. He was the nice guy…_Jack was the mean one_…

In the women's locker room, Julie Fenwick sat alone on the wooden bench with her head in her hands trying to figure out what had happened in the last few minutes…was that really her screaming at Doctor Jackson a moment ago?

She wanted to cry. But held the tears back fearing it would make her look weaker.

The two knocks at the door brought her to her feet in an instant.

Daniel's voice came softly through the door. "Doctor Fenwick?"

Her mouth dropped open when she recognized his voice. Time to face the music…she thought as she walked toward the door and pulled down her jacket before opening the door.

Daniel stood in the middle of the doorway with his hands in his pockets as he smiled down at her. "Hey," he said, forgetting what he had planned to say. "So…we have a job to do…" he said, stepping to the side as she walked out into the hall.

"Yeah, we do," she said, falling into step at his side.

And that was the end of it. No more mention of the argument or what they had said to each other…there was a job to do.

A short distance away, Jack headed for the briefing room. Taking deep breathes as he walked in an attempt to relax his nerves, this day was testing him in more ways than one and he was just about to break. With the committee lurking around every corner, Daniel and Doctor Fenwick locking horns in front of the committee and Carter—Carter and _Teal'c_…he had actually forgotten about them for a moment. As he reached the doorway of the briefing room he realized that in all the commotion, he had forgotten to tell Daniel what he had come to his office to say. Teal'c and Carter were missing—officially. He should tell him but what would it help? It would just be one more thing on Daniel's list to make him rattled and for the moment he had his hands full with Doctor Fenwick.

"Jack? You alright?" Daniel asked, touching his shoulder as he walked up behind him.

Jack turned and snapped back to reality. "Yeah, I'm good," he said, nodding back to Doctor Fenwick as she stood behind Daniel. "You two kids get everything sorted out?"

"We're good," Daniel said, looking back to Doctor Fenwick as she nodded in agreement.

"Yes General, everything is fine," she said straightening her jacket.

"Alright then, let's go," Jack said as he led them into the room.

Daniel took the floor first as he stood at the head of the table and turned on the projector. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we left off with the Tok'ra. One of our more capable allies …"


End file.
